Much has happened in Afghanistan since the first American boots set foot on the ground in October 2001.

With the Taliban in power prior to the war, Afghanistan had one of the worst human rights records in the world, especially in its treatment of women. But a decade later, the change is evident in the country's largest city of Kabul, home to 3.6 million people.

While the U.S. was successful in its initial defeat of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, many problems still remain — including serious security concerns in outlying provinces — but the change in Kabul is rather striking.

Present-day Kabul looks much like any other city in the world, with the exception of different styles of dress and language. Men and women talk openly in public, electronics and computers have become commonplace, and even western haircuts and clothing styles have become the new norm.

This scene could be from any Western mall ...

... filled with stores and modern-day amenities ...

... but this one is not in the West. It's in Kabul, a city transformed from war-torn to almost cosmopolitan.